Word from family in Egypt a relief to some in Kitsap

Adeeb "Mario" Saad, a 15-year-old exchange student at West Sound Academy, comes from El-Minya on the Nile River three hours south of Cairo. After several tense days, Saad finally made contact with his family on Sunday. Internet and cell phone service had been shut down in Egypt amid protests.
LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN

POULSBO - Relief came only after Adeeb "Mario" Saad's father answered his cell phone on Sunday — the family was fine.

It had been six days since Saad, a 15-year-old exchange student at West Sound Academy, heard from anyone in his native Egypt, where political unrest continues to intensify. The last conversation with family members came over Skype before authorities interrupted access to the Internet and mobile phone networks.

"I was very worried because I didn't know what was happening to them," says Saad, who hails from the city of Minya, about three hours south of Cairo. His parents, two brothers and an older sister live in a house along the Nile River.

Had it taken any longer for Saad to connect with family members, Head of School Joe Kennedy said he would have begun consulting his network of contacts at the state department and at one of the nation's handful of international schools.

Saad is studying at WSA, a rigorous college-prep school, as part of an 11-month exchange program. He lives with other international students at the Murphy House bed-and-breakfast in downtown Poulsbo.

He's been keeping a watchful eye on the protests in his home country, now in their second week. Amid claims of rampant corruption and a poor quality of life, protesters are hoping to oust longtime President Hosni Mubarak.

Saad agrees that a change is needed. "They need a new government and a new hope," said Saad, who turns 16 on Friday.

Other Peninsula residents with ties to the North African nation are less sure.

Olympic College French professor Magda Krall, who was born and raised in Alexandria, worries about the role the country's main opposition party, the Muslim Brotherhood, may have played in the uprising.

"The Egyptian people I have known are very kindhearted and very gullible," said Krall, who has a home in Allyn. "The scary part for me is if they are the ones that will take power. That will be the end of Egypt. I'm praying and praying. I don't care if he (Mubarak) goes or stays."

Krall said the return of cell phone service today has allowed her to reach a cousin in Alexandria.

"I asked, 'Do you have food?' They've been shopping and piling up food in the house because they don't know what will happen.'"

Bremerton resident Jennifer Stanton, who spent most of her middle school and high school years in a small town just outside Cairo, calls the violence "heartbreaking."

But Stanton, an international relations graduate student at the Troy University branch at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, says the instability felt across Egypt and Tunisia is not a new development.

"Egyptians are finally fed up with the corruption and fed up with his (Mubarak's) inabilities and his defiance. I think the people want more freedom and they're not getting it," said Stanton, who has been unable to reach friends still living in Egypt. "They want reforms and they want the political system to change. I think it's economic too. It's been building."

Tina Estabrook of Bainbridge Island first traveled to Egypt in 2001 to visit her uncle, a native Egyptian. Her departure coincided with September 11th, delaying her trip home by about a week.

"The Egyptian people are so kind and so family-oriented. When anyone found out that we were American, people were coming up to us, so upset. They were so sorry and were just giving us hugs."

Estabrook says she witnessed widespread corruption in Egypt when she accepted a teaching position there in May 2002. She remembers having to bribe customs officials, police, and later, government workers while trying to register her son for school. She moved back to Bainbridge two years later and is currently employed by the Suquamish Tribe.

"The corruption is not just up high, it's down low," said Estabrook, whose uncle took part in a rally last weekend in Seattle's Westlake plaza supporting the protests in Egypt.

Saad, nicknamed 'Mario' after Brazilian soccer legend Romario, has had an eventful first six months in the United States, including his first snow flurry. There have been hikes, trips to the city and even the realization the American food can "make you a balloon."

An Egyptian flag in his bedroom and the use of Facebook has helped him ward off homesickness.

According to West Sound Academy chief Kennedy, a sign hangs from Saad's door that reads: "Meeting international students is like opening a door to a different world."

"He's 15. He's a young boy, really. Think of yourself when you were 15. I'm not sure I'd go anywhere. They're in many ways very heroic to even think about it. 'I want to go on a journey and find out what the world is all about.'"